Don't Judge a Book
by FHGVZEhyde
Summary: Static is reminded that Hotstreak is only human. Not slash. Completed!
1. Chapter 1: Symptoms

**Don't Judge a Book**

Static is reminded that Hotstreak is only human. No-yaoi.

Disclaimer: If I owned Static Shock I wouldn't be sitting in my dorm room writing about it.

**Chapter One: Symptoms**

"Okay, so everybody knows the plan? There is no margin for errors here." Ebon reminded the group.

"Yes, you pompous ass. We have gone over the plan thirteen times. We know what we're supposed to do." Talon responded tightly. She and Ebon had been at each other's throats the last few weeks, fighting over the smallest things.

Francis snickered appreciatively. Talon was filling the void he usually occupied, the smart-ass defiant member of the Meta-Breed.

There were four teenagers sitting in an alley, the shadows hiding them from passerby. They were all in different stages of haphazard dress and discomfort. A cold autumn wind blew through and Talon gripped the edged of her jacket.

She looked enviously at Francis, who was lounging with his hands behind his head, legs stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankle. He looked perfectly at ease wearing only a t-shirt, a sweatshirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and faded jeans with holes in the knees, although he did look a little paler than usual. His ability to manipulate fire and heat left him with the perfect internal temperature to combat the external seasons. The others weren't as lucky.

Talon was wrapped in a jacket, a sweatshirt, a scarf, gloves, jeans, and boots…and she was still cold. Ebon and Shiv were both swaddled in the same way. The wind made them shiver and blow on their hands from the cold. Their underground hideout in an abandoned subway alcove was slightly warmer and drier, but the early winter had left them in a constant state of chill.

On top of the cold, the group had completely run out of money for food, clothes, and blankets…hence their current enterprise.

Ebon shot Francis a look and the red-head quieted, looking out to the street to hide his smirk. Ebon turned to Talon. "Just being careful, we screw this up and we'll be looking at a nice long stay at the Dakota Pen behind mutant safe bars of energy and 24-hour guard…unless you'd like that?"

Talon shut her mouth and crossed her arms.

"That's what I thought." Ebon looked at Shiv, the final member of the group who was being uncharacteristically silent. He was sitting cross-legged, playing with the frayed hem of his glove. "And you?"

"What?" Shiv asked.

"You understand what's happening?"

"We're robbing a bank."

"Yes, and how are we doing that?"

Shiv's face went blank. "Uh…"

Francis lowered one hand and began sucking on the knuckle of one of his fingers. He had cut it this morning and blood continued to trickle through his fingerless gloves even now a few hours later.

"That's still bleeding?" Talon asked.

Francis shrugged and tore the bottom of his pant leg, wrapping the strip securely around his finger as a makeshift bandage.

Ebon looked around at his team and sighed. "You know what, never mind. Let's just go and get this over with."

Talon and Shiv jumped up and headed out of the dark alley where they had been talking and ran for the bank across the street.

Ebon grabbed the front of Francis' grey hoodie and jerked the shorter boy's head up to his eye-level. "Three minutes and don't fuck up."

Francis scowled and stepped back, breaking Ebon's hold. "Right."

Looking distrustful, Ebon turned and sprinted after the other metahumans. Francis stared after him with a glare in his green eyes and then slapped a baseball cap on over his distinctive hair red and blond streaked hair so that no pedestrians would notice him and sauntered out into the street.

Francis was actually quite grateful for his assignment. Ebon, Shiv, and Talon ran into the bank, got the money, gave him the money, and then split up as a diversion for Static and Gear leaving him free to mingle with the rest of the city and slink back to the hideout undetected. Not that Francis wouldn't love to be in the bank melting things and cracking skulls, he was just feeling momentously shitty as of late.

He had hid the fact from the rest but he had been feeling increasingly weak the past couple of weeks and the color had drained from his face. Hell, he had woken this morning and was actually shaking and even though it was cold out, Francis felt warmer than usual, even when he tried to lower his body temperature.

Two minutes later, the front doors of the bank burst open and a loud wailing sound followed the three metahumans who barreled their way out. Ebon was clutching a backpack. His head whipped around searchingly and he spotted Francis.

Talon went one way, Shiv the other, and Ebon ran for Francis. He shoved the backpack in Francis' arms and kept running past the pyro. The motion was so fluid that no one noticed the exchange.

People on the streets leapt out of the way of the criminals, some screaming and others running away from the bank in panic. Francis slung the backpack on and wandered away from the crime scene, pulling his hood up over the cap to hide his face further. Soon, he was just another body in the crowd.

* * *

"I got Talon and Shiv and they don't have the money. Talon got away but Shiv's in custody." Gear's voice crackled over the shock vox.

Static frowned. "Well, I'm in pursuit of Ebon so he's the one with the money. Closing in now."

"Ok, check back in when you've got him."

Static sighed and flew lower to the street, bent low on his disc to go faster against the cold wind. Below, Ebon was running, knocking people into the air and looking back to see how close Static was getting. He was getting very close.

Static rammed his disc into Ebon and the two metahumans went sprawling. Static rolled and ended up in a crouch, blue sparks leaping around his fists ready to fight.

Ebon rolled over onto his back and jumped to his feet, smirking at Static. "Sup hero."

Static looked Ebon over.

"What, see something you like?" Ebon leered, doing a full turn.

"Uck." Static groaned in disgust. "Don't be a creep." Static's eyes narrowed behind his mask. "You don't have the money."

Ebon's smirk grew wider.

"But Shiv and Talon didn't have it either." Static blurted. "We know you took money, we have the security tapes. A backpack full."

"Sounds like you've got a real puzzler there Hero but you'll have to solve it without me." Ebon's lower half swirled into a black and purple vortex behind him and the shadowmaster was sucked into it, leaving Static standing by himself in the street.

"Argh dammit!" Static shouted he reached into his pocket and moved to hurl his shock vox at the wall of the nearest building, then reconsidered and pressed the talk button instead.

"Rich, Ebon's gone and he didn't have the money."

Static heard Gear's laughter over the walkie-talkie. "Take a deep breath V, I can tell how mad you are from twenty blocks away."

Static breathed in and out a few times and grinned. "Okay, much better. Now what?"

"Well that money's somewhere." Gear rationalized. The two superheroes were quiet for a moment.

Static broke the quiet first. "You know Hotstreak's been hanging around with the Breed since spring and I didn't see him today."

"He wasn't on the tapes." Gear agreed. "You don't think the Breed actually got smart and passed the money onto a guy who didn't go in the bank to be identified and could easily blend in with normal citizens do you?"

"Seems ridiculous but at this point…I'll take it. Let's go scour the city for a generic looking teenager wearing a backpack and probably a hat of some sort."

Gear laughed again. "Because that doesn't describe every teenager in the city."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I was suffering from Hotstreak withdrawal so here's this. It'll probably have three chapters so look for updates, probably soonish. This is not a yaoi fic. It's just Static seems to look at Francis as a dumb thug and that's about it. We saw in No Man's an Island how Francis was a sick kid and Static looked at him a little differently, yeah well, now he's going to experience that sickness first hand and it changes his perspective of our favorite pyro. Sorry it's so short, the coming chapters will probably be longer.

PLEASE REVIEW!


	2. Chapter 2: Relapse

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Static Shock

Warning: Lots of swearing in this chapter, just in case people have an issue with that you've been officially warned.

**Chapter Two: Relapse**

This plan would have worked a lot better if the bank hadn't been on the other side of the city. Now Francis had to appear innocent and average for the half-hour it took for him to walk back to the hideout. Not something that came easily to the pyro.

"What was so wrong with robbing a closer bank?" Francis muttered to himself, hitching the loaded backpack up higher and keeping his head ducked low.

High above, he heard a faint whining noise. Francis glanced up and down again quickly. "Shit."

Static flew overhead, scanning the crowds of people. Francis swore again under his breath and ducked into an alley, waiting for the hero to fly past.

Static continued on and only a few people looked up, some waved happily at a sighting of their favorite local hero.

Francis rubbed his forehead, trying to work away the faint twinge that was developing into a headache and groaned. "This just couldn't be easy could it?"

He would have to be more careful. If Static caught him or he lost the money, there was no point in Francis even going back to the hideout. Ebon would kill him. The others would help. Francis weighed the backpack and out of curiosity, he unzipped it.

"Damn." Francis whistled in admiration. The bag was stuffed to the brim with bundles of bills. "There's gotta be almost ten grand in here." Suddenly Francis felt a lot more nervous about transporting the money. This amount would keep the Breed happy and warm for a good long while.

Francis pulled the zipper shut and swung the bag over his shoulder, melting back into the stream of people walking the sidewalks and ignored the now pounding pain in his temple.

With Static and Gear patrolling the city, the going was much slower. Francis saw them both twice more in the next fifteen minutes. They were looking for him, Francis was sure of it. With twenty blocks to go before he was in the relative safety of the Breed's neighborhood, Static and Gear flew over together, coming at towards him.

Francis changed directions abruptly and walked into a store. Turned out to be a video rental store. The red-head hid in the back of the store. He didn't see any cameras and his aisle was free of customers so he risked whipping his hood and hat off and running a hand exhaustedly through his hair. Francis let out a deep breath and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"This sucks…a lot." Francis muttered, slapping his cap back on hurriedly when he saw the cashier straining to get a look at him from behind the counter. While he did look like a potential shoplifter Francis didn't appreciate the attention and walked back to the door, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead.

"Excuse me sir, may I check your bag?" The cashier had swept out from behind the counter and was holding his hand out expectantly.

Francis looked from the cashier's hand to the cashier. "No."

"I have to insist. Store policy." The cashier stepped forward and Francis noticed that while he had moved away from the register, his hand was underneath the counter, undoubtedly on the security button.

"Seeya." Francis pushed the door open and walked out quickly, the cashier shouting behind him. A security guard followed Francis out but the teenager had already broken into a sprint

"Hey! Kid!" The security guard tried to run after Francis but he was much more nimble in the crowd and nobody reached out to stop him. He was two blocks ahead of the guard before he slowed down. Well, was forced to slow down.

There was sharp, unbearable pain in Francis' stomach and the teen doubled over in agony, gasping for air.

Francis hobbled into a park and found a bench, grasping its side and trying to take deep even breaths. The pain continued, punctuating each breath with a pang of misery.

"Hey, are you okay man? You look really pale." A jogger asked as they passed the bench. Francis nodded weakly and waved them away.

"Oh man. " Francis sat down and put his head between his knees in an effort to make the dizziness go away. He hadn't felt this terrible since…since…

"Oh man." Francis groaned again, his breath hitching in realization. "Fuck, fuckity fuck fuck." Why hadn't he seen this coming? His finger, the tiredness, the fever, the shaking, he should have known what those were. And now he was having a full-blown relapse here in this park with ten grand on his back and Static and Gear searching for him of all the times and places.

"Okay, don't panic." Francis forced his breathing to calm. "I know how to handle this. First things first though, get this money back to Ebon."

Francis stood slowly, knowing if he stood up too fast the blood would rush to his head and he would pass out. Safely on his feet, Francis carefully began making his way back to the street.

* * *

Static and Gear flew over the streets again and again, with no luck. There were several teenage boys with hats and backpacks, but none matched their favorite pyromaniac. They were about to turn east and make another sweep of that area when there was a faint shout from behind them.

"Hey! Kid!"

Static turned his head and saw a husky security guard hustling as fast as his legs could churn chasing a teenager….in a hat with a backpack. Static stopped and turned in the air, staring after the teen.

The kid was losing the guard fast and he glanced backwards to make sure he wouldn't be caught. Static got a glimpse of red and then the head turned away again.

Static smirked. "Got you Smoky."

"Yo Rich, double back fast, I got him." Static shouted into his shock vox, already in pursuit.

"Roger V, don't lose him. I'll be right there."

* * *

Francis emerged back on the street, face slick with sweat to a most unwelcome sight. "Aw c'mon."

Static was flying towards him, fast. He was spotted.

Francis quickly ran through his options. Running was out; the last time had nearly killed him. Fighting was iffy, he wasn't sure he even had enough strength to bring out the flames, let alone do anything with them. Getting captured wasn't an option either. Oh hell, what was he supposed to do then?

Francis turned and ran back into the park as quickly as he dared. Hiding seemed like a good choice.

Static was much faster unfortunately. He rammed into Francis like had hit Ebon earlier, although this time the hero managed to stay on his disc. Francis still went flying however.

His cap fell off and he was exposed, the few people watching ran off screaming. Francis lay on his stomach, fists clenched. "Ouch."

"Alright Smoky, c'mon. Let's get this over with." Static taunted, hovering a few feet above the ground.

Francis rolled over slowly and sat up.

"Whoa dude, what's wrong with you?" Static's taunts cut off as he noticed how crappy the other boy looked.

Francis' face was pale and wet with sweat. He was gasping and his chest jumped up and down with each erratic breath. He looked like he was in pain.

"Hotstreak?" Static jumped off his disc and folded it into his pocket, stepping forward with concern.

Francis jerked his head up and met Static's gaze for the first time. Static felt his heart skip a beat. The red-head's normally clear and mischievous green eyes were dull and glassy, he seemed to barely be holding onto consciousness.

"I think I'm in trouble." Francis ground out, hating himself for being so weak in front of his rival.

"Static! I'm here man. I…" Gear landed beside Static and caught sight of Francis. "Aye yi yi."

"What's wrong with him." Static asked.

Francis looked between the two. Then he felt it. A horrible familiar feeling. It bubbled up within him and then Francis blacked out.

"Shit! What's happening?" Static jumped when Francis slumped backwards. He was writhing on the ground and twitching uncontrollably.

"A seizure I think. Call 911." Gear rushed to Francis side tried to hold the older and larger boy still.

Static put his hand to his ear and zeroed in on the nearest paramedic group's radio wave. "This is Static. I'm with Gear in the park on 10th near the south entrance and Hotstreak is having a seizure of some sort, he looks sick and in pain. We need medial help immediately."

"Roger that Static, en route now." Came the brisk reply.

"Help me V!" Gear shouted.

Static hurried over to Francis side and held his chest down, not able to look the pyro in the face.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Look! When I said the next chapter would be up soon I wasn't lying. I was lying when I said it would be longer but...what are you gonna do? One more chapter. The symptoms all point to one disease if any of you guys can guess it, although I suppose these symptoms are similar for a lot of diseases. It will be revealed next chapter. Don't worry, I won't kill Francis. I love him far too much.

PLEASE REVIEW!


	3. Chapter 3: Diagnosis

Disclaimer: Okay, you get the picture by now

**C****hapter Three: Diagnosis**

Francis was still unconscious. Gear rode in the ambulance with the pyro, the paramedics around him working at a frenzied pace to keep Francis' heart beating. His pulse fluttered and jumped erratically.

Static flew overhead. No matter how hard he tried, he could not erase the image of Francis' face suddenly going sheet white, his green eyes rolling, and his body slumping backwards, landing with a dull thud on the grass. It replayed over and over again.

The ambulance skittered through traffic lights and careened into Dakota General. The paramedics leapt out the back doors, one taking the back end of the stretcher, lowering it carefully and skillfully to the ground while the other hoisted the other end.

Francis was still on the stretcher. One of the paramedics had strapped an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose. Gear hopped out and watched the paramedics race towards the Emergency doors. Static landed beside his partner and folded his disc with one fluid flick of the wrist, tucking it away into a pocket in his coat.

"What's happening?" Static asked.

Gear shook his head. "I don't know. He's not stable. They're trying to figure out what's wrong with him. Someone's going to have to diagnose him before anything can happen. All they can do now is keep him breathing."

Tires squealed behind the superhero duo. They whirled around.

"What the…?" Gear started.

News vans piled into the hospital parking lot, camera crews and reporters with microphones leaping out of the vehicles much like the paramedics had. One camera swung and spotted the stretcher with Francis on it seconds before it vanished through the sliding doors.

"Oh no, media frenzy. Don't let them get in the hospital." Static said. He and Gear ran for the reporters.

"Static! What is Hotstreak's current condition?"

"Gear, what brought on the strange incident?"

"Static, how does it feel to know you killed Hotstreak?"

"Has Hotstreak contracted a fatal and contagious disease?"

"What? I didn't kill him! He's not dead!" Static yelled angrily.

"Listen up! Nobody is allowed in the hospital." Gear waved his hands to get the attention of the media.

"We do not know Hotstreak's condition, or even what happened. We're sure the fine doctors at Dakota General will be able to figure it out, but for right now, we have no further comments." Static added.

There was a loud collective groan.

"We mean it. We'll let we know when we know." Static said.

The media still did not look particularly happy. They retreated back to their vans to skulk and wait for a development.

* * *

White blurs, antiseptic smells, the rattle of the oxygen in his mask. Francis jerked in and out of consciousness as the paramedics rolled him down the hall. He moved and someone pinned down his arm, jabbing his wrist with a needle.

It was horrible, the stuff of nightmares. The stuff of his nightmares. Francis tried to move again but now there were two sets of hands holding him down. More hands gripped the sheet under him and transferred him to a bed. The jarring movements made him gasp and suck in more stale air then he wanted. His lungs protested and Francis lapsed into a violent coughing spasm. Someone removed the mask and pressed on his chest.

Francis groaned and someone's deliciously cool hand landed on his forehead before being jerked away.

"Jesus, he's burning up. He burned my hand."

"Okay people, stabilize him. Breathing and fever, these are our main concerns. Go, people go."

Francis wanted to open his eyes, shove the myriad hands away from him, and burn the whole place to hell. But for some reason his eyelids felt too heavy…

* * *

Dr. Cooper rubbed his eyes. He was sitting at the table in the lounge, coffee mug in one hand, medical journal in the other.

One of his interns stuck his head in the door. "Excuse me Dr. Cooper? One of the metahumans just got brought in. Fever, trouble breathing, just had a seizure too. We're having a hard time diagnosing him, Dr. Horowitz requested your help."

Dr. Cooper put the journal down and took a nonchalant sip of coffee. "Which metahuman?"

The intern frowned. "Why does it matter?"

"Just tell me."

"The fire one, uh…Hotstreak is it?"

Dr. Cooper nodded, put the mug down, and stood. "Tell Horowitz to order a bone marrow biopsy right away."

The intern disappeared from the doorway.

Dr. Cooper rubbed his eyes again. "Shit."

* * *

Static and Gear were waiting outside Francis' hospital room, watching as the nurses and doctors put the pyro back in the bed. He had just been through some sort of procedure. It was alarming that Francis still hadn't awoken.

"I suppose you two are in charge of him?"

Static and Gear turned their heads and noticed a tall doctor with a balding head of brown hair and a beard to match. He wore glasses perched on the very edge of his nose. His eyes and mouth were both pinched into a frown. His long white lab coat flapped around him. Immediately he had Static and Gear's attention, here was a man with authority, a man with answers.

"He's a ward of the state so yeah, I guess we're as much in charge as anybody." Gear agreed.

"My name is Dr. Cooper. The results of the biopsy are in and Francis has leukemia."

Time stood still for a second. Static actually felt his heart stop.

"What?"

"I was the one who ordered the biopsy. I had to be sure. I haven't seen Francis since he was eight, I wanted to make sure it was the same person and if it was, not a different disease…however unlikely that was."

"When Francis was eight?" Gear asked, the same bewildered look on his face that Static was sure was on his own.

"He did mention he was in the hospital for two years." Static remembered aloud.

"When?" Gear asked in amazement.

"When Alva, that whole thing on the island and we were chained together." Static answered, remembering how pale Francis had gotten at the sight of a needle, how he had shrank against the wall in terror. He had seemed like a little boy then. Static looked through the window into Francis' room. He looked like a little boy now too. Horribly vulnerable and weak, not like Hotstreak at all. Static looked away.

"Geeze." Gear breathed out. "I gotta say, that's not what I was expecting to hear."

Dr. Copper looked between the two. "I was Francis' doctor then. I was afraid he would have a relapse when he stopped coming to his monthly checkups around two years ago."

"What happens now?" Static asked.

"Now we put him through treatment and hope for the best. It worked once before. He's strong, he's fighter."

Static nodded. "For sure a fighter."

"Dr. Cooper?" One of the nurses walked out of Francis' room. "He's stabilized. He should wake soon."

Dr. Cooper looked at the two heroes. "Let me know when he does."

* * *

"You have cancer."

It wasn't a statement or a question. Static was simply voicing his astonishment out loud.

"Yeah." Francis agreed.

"You have cancer." Static repeated.

"Didn't we already go over this?" Francis looked at Gear for help.

"If you want to be specific, he's got leukemia." Gear added helpfully.

The three were in a hospital room. Gear was flipping through Francis' medical chart, Static was slumped in a chair looking shocked, and Francis was lying in the bed. The pyro was pale and his breathing was labored, but he had regained consciousness.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Static asked.

Francis shrugged. "Didn't want to."

Static frowned. "You didn't want to." The hero reiterated.

"Is that something you would tell people if you were me?" Francis asked.

That was met with silence.

"Okay, I guess not. But…why haven't you been on medication? You knew you had leukemia. You could have died."

Francis tried to sit up, felt woozy, and promptly dropped his head back onto the pillow, glaring at Static all the while. "I was…until the Bang. I can't just walk into a hospital and get my prescription filled with every cop in the city looking for me can I?"

Static looked away.

"Yeah, didn't think so." Francis squirmed in the bed, playing with his IV. He was very uncomfortable, not to mention embarrassed. After years of hiding his disease he was now being ousted publicly. The pitying looks Static and the nurses kept shooting his way made his skin crawl.

Gear slapped the chart back onto the end of the bed and turned the TV on in boredom.

"Why are you two still here?" Francis asked. He winced at how raspy his voice sounded.

"Not getting me like I asked them to."

The three looked at the doorway.

"Ah shit." Francis swore, rolling his head on the pillow. "Hiya Doc."

Dr. Cooper strolled into the room and over to Francis' bedside. He put his hand on the teenager's shoulder. "Why did you stop coming around Francis?"

"Nobody's called me that in a long time." Francis grinned.

"It's good to see you, even if you are dying again." Dr. Cooper patted his shoulder a second time, reassuringly. "Let's see if we can't change that."

Francis nodded, still grinning weakly. "Sounds good to me."

* * *

Weeks went by, then a couple of months. The media coverage died off after the initial shock that Francis Stone, F-Stop, Hotstreak was human after all. He was not a machine, fist cocked and fire burning menacingly, and he was one of them.

People even started to like the pyro. Virgil had noticed more than one girl at Dakota Union High School with his picture taped to the inside of their lockers, smirking sexily. Frieda explained; no one can resist the bad boy, especially not one who was lying ill in the hospital.

Then one day, three months after Francis had collapsed, Static and Gear returned to Dakota General for their weekly visit.

They walked into Francis' room and stopped dead in the hallway. The medicine bottles usually planted on the bedside table were gone. The bed was neatly made. Francis' clothes were gone. The window was ajar. A folded note lay on the blanket.

Static opened the note. There were two messages.

_Sparky and Whiz Kid,_

_Don't worry about me. Seriously. I got my meds and I'm ditching Dakota. Thanks for helping me out, but I can't stand another second in this place._

_Doc,_

_I know you're gonna be pissed at me all over again and I'm sorry because you've saved my life twice now. But trust me when I say I won't let leukemia beat me, I won't let it get away from me again. I promise._

_-- Francis_

"He's gone?" Dr. Cooper was behind them. Static handed him the note. The doctor read it in quiet, a furrow between his eyebrows showing his disappointment.

"I expected as much." The man said after a few minutes.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Gear asked.

Dr. Cooper nodded and smiled. "Of course, he always is."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Yippee! Another story written and done with. Hope you liked it.

Okay, pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease...this is a story. Don't look too much into the leukemia, don't think it's insensitive or anything like that. Honest, I wasn't aiming for that. I just thought, cancer is a disease that would keep someone in the hospital for two years...there you go. I did a little research to get the symptoms but that's it so if I didn't portray quite right, deal with it. I was actually inspired by the episode of Scrubs when Ben Sullivan finds out he has leukemia (my favorite episode). So there you go, take everything with a grain of salt.

Oh and Dr. Cooper is an homage to The Big Bang Theory

ALSO PLEASE REVIEW!


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